Fire: Why You Can Put It Out
by JMGirl
Summary: Hestia abandons the hearth to go out with Cupid. Based on the Myth-O-Mania series.


Fire: Why You Can Put it Out  
  
by  
  
JMGirl  
  
~~~ Hestia abandons the hearth to go out with Cupid, which is why you never trust him. Based on the Myth-O-Mania series. ~~~  
  
A while back, there were many unstoppable forces. These forces could only be stopped by Nature's accidents, and not by people's intentions. One of them was fire.  
  
But all this changed. One night, when Cupid, the god of love, was walking down the street in a city, he saw fire. It reminded him of Hestia, and how much he loved her.   
  
Immediately he flew up to the hearth that she was tending, and shot an arrow into her. Then he went up to her.  
  
"Hesti-Poo, I love you soo much. Will you go out with me?" he said.  
  
"Cupi-pie, I will! But first..." Hestia grabbed Hera as she was walking by.  
  
"HESTIA!" she screamed.  
  
"...I need you to tend the hearth while I'm out." Hestia continued.  
  
"WHAT?!" Hera screamed. She was less than thrilled about the idea. "I'm not tending your hearth!"  
  
"Please," Hestia protested.  
  
"OK," said Hera. She was still not happy about it.  
  
"Thanks, Hera," said Hestia. "You're the best sister in the world."  
  
The next night, Hestia and Cupid went to the restaurant. They had stopped at the market earlier and bought bread, grapes, and milk. Hera sat at the hearth disgusted about her sister. Yet she did her best to keep the fire going. She was still mad, so she muttered a curse to the hearth. Then, Persephone came by swinging a bucket of water at her side.  
  
"Hi, Hestia," she said.  
  
"Hi," Hera said back. Some of the water in the bucket spilled in the hearth and the fire sizzled.  
  
"Hestia, what did you DO?" Persephone was surprised.  
  
"I cursed the hearth."  
  
"Hesti, how could you?"  
  
"Sephie, I..."  
  
"It's Per... Wait a minute, you're not Hestia! Hera?! What in the world are you doing her? And where is Hestia?"  
  
"On a date," Hera admitted.  
  
"With who? Cupid?" Persephone asked.  
  
"Exactly," said Hera.  
  
"Oh, I knew it," said Persephone. "Just last week he was zinging those arrows all over the place. I couldn't even walk without dodging them."  
  
"I know," said Hera. "It was chaos for all of us."  
  
"So Cupid shot Hestia, and now she abandoned the hearth to go on a date?" asked Persephone. Hera nodded. "Well, I have a surprise for her." Persephone tossed her bucket, and the water splashed on to the hearth. The fire sizzled, and crackled, and then went out. Hera was stunned.  
  
"What did you do?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"Revenge." Persephone smiled.  
  
~~~  
  
The next thing they knew, Hera and Persephone were walking in the streets of a city. Along the way they were talking about what to do .  
  
"Sephie, are you sure it is OK to put out the fire like that?" said Hera.  
  
"Of course," said Persephone. "Oh, and by the way it's Persephone! I am not a baby anymore."  
  
"I know that," said Hera. "It's just that I forget often. Did you hear something?"  
  
"I'll check it out. You go to the restaurant and look around," said Persephone. Persephone looked around. She saw a girl sitting by a building. The girl was startled, but managed to say "Hi". Persephone asked her what she was doing.  
  
"Oh, the usual," the girl said, "for me anyway."  
  
"Well, what do you mean?" asked Persephone.  
  
"Well, when I was born, my father decided he didn't want me. I was abandoned, and got adopted. My mom stops by sometimes."  
  
"My name is Cynisca, by the way."  
  
"Oh my gosh," said Persephone. "Do you mind helping us out?"  
  
"Why not?" said Cynisca.  
  
"OK," said Persephone. "We just have to wait for Hera. She'll be back any minute." So they waited. A couple of minutes later, they caught sight of Hera running back to them.  
  
"I found them," she said.  
  
"Where were they?" asked Persephone.  
  
"In the center of the restaurant. And you'll never guess what!"  
  
"What?" asked Persephone.  
  
"Cupid just shot Hestia with an arrow!"  
  
"Another one? I thought he already had her under the spell," said Persephone.  
  
"It was wearing off." Cynisca looked confused. She had totally lost them.  
  
"Wait a minute, who was on the date?" she asked.  
  
"HESTIA AND CUPID!" Persephone and Hera replied.  
  
"I have a plan," said Hera. "Persephone, you take this," she said, handing out some paper.  
  
"What do I do with it?" asked Persephone.  
  
"You draw a picture of the date." Looking toward Cynisca she said, "You pour this all over the floor where Hestia and Cupid are sitting," she said, holding up a bucket of something.  
  
"Hera, have you lost your mind?" asked Persephone.  
  
"No, it's all part of the plan. You see, when Hestia and Cupid are about to kiss..."  
  
"They're about to kiss?" asked Cynisca.  
  
"It is a date," sighed Persephone.  
  
"Anyway, when they are about to kiss, I'll walk by. Hestia will be so startled to see me that she will stand up, knocking the chair and her over until she lands in the food that's all over the floor. She'll be so embarrassed. All you have to do is tie the chair to the table with a rope."  
  
So they walked to the restaurant. There they found Hestia and Cupid and carried out their plan. Hera overheard the conversation.  
  
"Oh, Cupi-pie, I think that maybe we should get married," said Hestia.  
  
"Hesti-Poo, shouldn't we wait for a while?" asked Cupid. "We haven't even kissed yet."  
  
"Then why don't we do that now?" said Hestia.  
  
"Whatever you say, Hesti-Poo," said Cupid, and they started to kiss. Out of the corner of her eye, Hestia saw Hera walking in the restaurant. She was so startled that she screamed. She stood up so fast that the chair that was tied to the table was knocked back carrying her with it so that she landed on all the food on the floor. Outside, the three girls slapped hands.  
  
"I have to go now," said Cynisca. "Mom will be coming over any minute."  
  
"Persephone and I have to get back to the hearth," said Hera. "We already have a lot of explaining to do." So the two of them went back to the hearth. And who did they find there? Hestia, chained to a building, and there was Cupid, shooting her with an arrow.  
  
"Oh, Cupie-pie," she said. "Why did I ever trust her to take care of the hearth?"  
  
"Oh, Hesti-Poo," said Cupid, "Why did I ever trust you to be my date?"  
  
~~~  
  
The next day, Hera talked to Hestia. The love arrow had long since worn off, and Hestia had returned to her normal state.  
  
"Sephie and I talked it over, and we think it's good to be able to stop fire," Hera said. "It's caused too much trouble."  
  
Hestia smiled. "But next time, I think Cupid should be tied up," she said. They looked around. Cupid was shooting an arrow at another goddess.  
  
"Here we go again," said Hera.  
  
~~~ The End ~~~ 


End file.
